Varying Variables
by LastChaos
Summary: The story of Daniel Potter is known throughout the wizarding world, but now witness the journey of his brother, Harry Potter, the boy who also could have been the boy-who-lived. Hogwarts will never be the same once the Potter Brothers are through with it.


AN: So this is my shot at the Harry's Twin is the boy-who-lived storyline. And no, Daniel really is the boy-who-lived, and no he is not a douche, and no James and Lily did not suddenly forget about their other son the night Voldermort was vanished, and no Harry was not used as a house elf growing up. James and Lily love their sons equally, and though the prophecy states that Daniel will have to kill Voldermort, they realize that Harry is just as likely to be targeted and so have been preparing them BOTH. Harry does not have some super secret power that allows him to be more powerful then Dumbledore, though he is quite smart due to his Hermione like bookishness. Both twins will be very advanced for their age, but then they have been tutored in magic since 8, so that kinda gives them an edge. I'm hoping to do my own condensed version of books 1-7, but I currently only have ideas up to book 4. Obviously with the Potters alive and kicking, Sirius will not have to break out of Azkaban, but I can tell you I already have an idea on what I want to cover for third year, but before I get too far ahead of myself, here is the first chapter. Send me your thoughts.

"**Spoken"**

'**Thought'**

"Harry you will be alright on your own right?" Lily knew that her oldest child (by a few minutes, but nonetheless oldest) was a very responsible child for his age, and would take good care of his sick younger sister and baby sister but could not help but worry.

The miniature carbon copy of James Potter rolled his eyes at his mother. "Yes mum, for the hundredth time I'll be fine."

"Fine!" shouted the squirming bundle in Harry's hands. Lily, or baby Lily as everyone in the family liked to call her, was an unexpected, but very welcome surprise to the Potter family. The adorable toddler who was closing in on two years had raven dark hair like her father, but instead of the wild mess that resembled a birds nest, her hair curled like her mothers. Being not even two of age, baby Lily had already found a favorite in the family in her older brother Harry, but that may very well be due to the fact that Harry spent the most time with her amongst her siblings. And the fact that Harry always spoilt her with food when Lily senior wasn't looking didn't hurt either.

"Well remember to check Rose's temperature every hour, and floo call St. Mungo's if she exceeds 101! And make sure she drinks lots of liquid and-" Lily's longwinded list of fears was interrupted by James Potter's hearty chuckle.

"Lily dear I think Harry gets it." Harry smiled appreciatively at his father, glad that his mom hadn't had time to build up anymore momentum on that rant. James Potter had changed very much since his days at Hogwarts; the war and being on the frontlines as an aurorer had changed his personality greatly, but not so much that he was unrecognizable from the fun loving quidditch captain of days past. Pushing his wife gently towards the fireplace, he ruffled Harry's hair affectionately and swooped down to give his baby daughter a kiss on the forehead causing her to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Come on Danny, we're going to be late for the conference!" The sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the stairwell, and a boy leapt down the last two steps and landed in the living room with a grunt.

"I'm here! I'm here!"

Daniel Potter had a similar facial structure as his fraternal twin, but that was where the similarities ended. Instead of his mothers green eyes, he had inherited James's dark brown ones, and his hair was a similar mess to his father and brother, but was a vibrant red like his mother's. Standing side by side, the Potter Brothers as the media so fondly called them were almost the same height, and had a build that most 11 year olds didn't have. The subsequent return of the dark lord when they were six had pushed their parents to train their twin sons to the brink of exhaustion every day knowing that the madman would never leave them alone as long as they still walked with the living.

For 5 years, Harry and Daniel had been pummeled with information and training well beyond what most 11 year olds were capable of handling let alone comprehend. Physical conditioning involved running a mile twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Once a week they would also go out and run 10 miles with their father. Pushups and sit-ups had become a very used and abused exercise for the twins, and at age 11 they could both drop down and push out a 100 in less then a minute. Both boys were held up to aurorer combat fitness requirements, and a bit more.

The Potters had also pressed their children to read and study magic as much as possible, and had begun allowing them to use their parent's wands for practice since they were 8 giving them a good 3 years to practice. Most of the first through third year material had already been covered, but both twins were well versed in defense, well enough to go toe to toe with a 5th year and come out on top. But while Harry had taken to the learning like a fish to water, Daniel had retained his childish want to have fun, and as such both had gone their own separate ways in terms of hobbies and interests.

Daniel inherited his father's love of playing pranks and as such was a favorite to their Uncle Sirius. His next greatest love was quidditch, and while he excelled at most positions, he played seeker best. Harry had taken on his mother's fascination with reading and had delved deeper into the world of magic then his brother had, reading his parent's old school books and practicing with their wands whenever he could. While being a book worm as his brother and Uncle Sirius like to teasingly call him whenever they saw him with his head buried in a tome, Harry was still his father's son and played quidditch as often as Daniel could convince him to. While he lacked his twin's ability to play any quidditch position, he did outshine his brother as a chaser, and could often impress even James, the man who had been offered a professional career as a chaser but had turned it down to become an aurorer along with his wife.

The twins were both very skilled at defense, but Daniel took after Lily in her ability with charms while Harry had gained James's prodigal talent in transfiguration. Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but whenever their parents allowed them to duel, Harry usually came out on top which was surprising since Daniel was the boy-who-lived and was supposed to kill Voldermort. And yesterday when the twins and their parents had gone shopping for their school supplies in Daigon Alley, they had another surprise.

Flashback

"_Well master Daniel and master Harry, it seems the Potter Brothers have come to find their wands at last!" The old man behind the counter in Ollivander's wands was an ancient being who looked ready to keel over at any moment though his eyes still shone with life and vigor. _

"_And which would be your wand hand master Daniel?"_

"_Well I can use both." The Potters had taught their twins to use both hands knowing how useful that skill could be in a duel, and thus by the age of 11 though not naturally ambidextrous they could use both hands with equal proficiency._

"_Ah! A rare gift indeed. Well best to measure both sides I think." The magical measuring tape began taking all manner of measurements off Daniel's body while the old man had gone to the back and rooted around through his stacks of unlabeled and seemingly unorganized boxes._

"_Honestly, I wonder why he even uses the tape measure. He never even looks at it!"_

_Lily laughed at her husband's comment and swatted his shoulder. "Well it certainly looks more professional then just handing over the wands hmm?"_

_Ollivanders returned, and within minutes the wizarding world's savior was trying out all manners of wands. After suffering through a summoned cloud of dandelion fluff and a sudden unexplainable shower of rain that tasted like lemonade, and a number of other unpleasant magical effects, the old man pulled out a rather unusual box that was covered in dust._

"_I had hoped it would not come to this, but it would seem that destiny will not be denied her way." Opening the box and handed over the wand to Daniel who immediately felt a rush of power. Waving it once, he sent a shower of red and gold sparks dancing across the room causing both his parents to laugh and clap while his brother simply smiled and patted him on the back._

"_Sir, what's wrong with this wand, it feels fine to me." _

_Smiling a little bit sadly, the old man shook his head. "Oh no, no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that wand, in fact it is one of my finer creations if I must say so myself. 11 inches holly and cored with the feather of a phoenix. No, it is not the wand at fault, but rather the owner of the brother wand of that which you hold in your hand."_

"_Brother wand?" asked Harry._

"_Oh yes. You see, I recall every single wand I have ever sold master Daniel, and it just so happens that the phoenix that gave rise to your wand had lent it's power to another. Oh yes, I think it is safe to say that we can expect great things from you master Daniel."_

"_Wait, so who has a brother wand to mine?" _

_Ollivander fixed Daniel with a chilling stare. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." The soft whisper plunged the room into silence, and Daniel looked down at his wand in slight revulsion while his parents shared a worried glance._

"_Heh well there you go Danny!" Harry clapped his twin on the shoulder. "There's no doubt now that you kicked the dark wanker's arse when we were still in nappies."_

"_Harry!" scolded Lily while James and his brother shared a shaky laugh._

"_Indeed. Now master Harry, I do believe that we must find you a wand as well!" And with a slightly more cheerful demeanor the old man once more searched the back of the room before coming forth with an armload of wands._

_After a good 30 minutes of trying, Harry had still gotten no positive result from any wand, though his discharges with the incompatible wands were noticeably more dangerous. A hailstorm of shrapnel metal that had embedded itself on the front of the counter and a burst of flame nearly 10 feet long were amongst some of the tamer mishaps. "Well master Harry, it is rare that we find such a difficult customer, but not without reason I assure you. Hmm…I wonder…" _

_With that curious phrase, the old man once more disappeared into the many shelves behind the counter. A good 5 minutes passed before the man returned holding a most unusual box. The box was shaped similar to all the others, but was an ash gray rather then the brown most the other wands had been cased in. And unlike the tweed twine that had held the lids down in a simple bowtie knot, this box had been chained shut with a padlock that had no keyhole in it._

_Ollivander placed the box on the table before removing his wand and tapping the padlock gently causing the chains to spring apart. "It has been many years since I have allowed someone to try this wand, and if indeed you are the master then we can expect many great things from you as well master Harry."_

_Gently he lifted out a midnight black wand that seemed to suck the light from the very room causing it to dim slightly. "13 inches, hide of a Womping Willow and cored with a strand of hellhound hair."_

_Everyone in the room gave a start upon hearing what was at the core of the wand. Hellhounds were notoriously feared beasts, perhaps more so then even the Nandu an animal that breathed noxious fumes that killed all life that inhaled it. Hellhounds have extremely magical resistant hides, and no flame could ever harm a hellhound. Its eyes burned with an unnatural fire, causing many to wonder how the creature saw things. Wherever a hellhound was, flames would follow, its very path burnt to ashes and its surrounding location an infernal heat that was comparative to the very depths of hell. The creature breathed cursed fire that could not be extinguished through conventional means, simply sealed away by a rune master. If allowed to rampage unchecked, it would burn the whole world down. How Ollivander managed to get his hands on such a dangerous ingredient was indeed a mystery worth pondering. Hellhounds have been hunted to extinction, and it was said that Merlin himself had been the one to strike the fatal blow against the last creature found on the mortal plane._

_Grasping the oddly colored wand, the twin of the savior practically glowed. A wave of heat rippled off Harry distorting the image around the boy and filled the room with the smell of sulfur. Both James and Lily clapped happily for their son though with worried looks in their eyes while Danny punched his brother in the arm._

"_Great things indeed," whispered Olivander. "Well master Harry, I'm afraid we'll have to get you a second wand."_

"_Isn't that illegal?" questioned a frowning Lily._

"_Yes normally it would be, but I think it's safe to say the Ministry will make an exception this time. The hellhound wand is unsuitable for most magics you will be learning at Hogwarts I'm afraid. Not a wand you would want to do your charms work with Mr. Potter."_

_Harry groaned as the cheerful old man handed over another wand._

_**Flashback End**_

"Alright then Harry," James shrugged on a heavy expensive looking fur lined cloak, "take care of Rose and Lily, we should be back before midnight." Danny followed his parents to the floo but not before clapping his brother on the shoulder. With a flash of green and a dull roar, all three disappeared through the flames leaving Harry alone holding his youngest sibling.

"All right you, time for a bath." Upon hearing the words bath, the youngest Potter squealed and began flailing in her brother's grip.

"NO!" Throwing the struggling child over his shoulder Harry chuckled as his sister tried to squirm and escape. Growling playfully, he flipped her onto his hands and tossed her in the air before catching her on the way down causing the little brunette to shriek happily.

"Wanna story."

"Ok baby, I'll read you a story, but you're still getting a bath."

"NO! STORY!"

**10:30 P.M. Ministry Building**

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter! This will be your first year at Hogwarts, how do you feel about going to such a prestigious school taught headed by Albus Dumbledore himself?"

For the past half hour, Daniel Potter had been bombarded with questions and the occasional flash of a magical camera. His parents stood behind him, both having well practiced plastic smiles plastered on their faces while two burly looking aurorers flanked the family with glazed over eyes. Again silently cursing to himself for his fame, Daniel wished for the hundredth time that the annual question and answer convention would come to an end, but from the eager puppy like looks on the reporter's faces, this was going to go well past midnight.

Contrary to what many people may believe, Daniel Potter did not really enjoy being the boy-who-lived. True, when Christmas and his birthday came around, it was wonderful having hundreds of strangers send him gifts, but the constant barrage of attention and the unfailing limelight that followed him wherever he went got old pretty quick. In fact, Daniel Potter secretly envied his twin who could so easily slip away into a crowd and blend in as just another face. Sure he got an equal amount of attention whenever they were together, but he always managed to skillfully deflect it towards Daniel, something he had mastered early on. Danny was stuck signing autographs and kissing the occasional baby whenever he went to Diagon Alley, but Harry would slip away to explore the magical alleyway unmolested.

"Well I can tell you that I'm very excited to be able to go to such a great school. My brother and I grew up hearing stories from my parents about how great Hogwarts is, and I just can't wait until I get there."

'And away from you all.' Yes, Daniel Potter really did not like the paparazzi one bit.

"What class do you look forward to the most Mr. Potter?"

'Good god does it matter?' "Well in all honesty I can say that I really look forward to charms and-"

At that moment, a piercing light lit up above the podium causing many people to scream and back away. Instantly James and Lily had pulled Daniel back while the two aurorers had sprung forward with their wands pointed at the light. When the glow faded to a tolerable level, people blinked away their tears and squinted up at the horrifyingly inhuman face staring back at them.

"Good evening witches and wizards of England." The voice held a slight hypnotic lisp, but what really captivated the eyes was the face of the speaker; the face of Lord Voldermort.

The man thought to have been vanquished by Daniel Potter had been resurrected using the blood of famed auror Alastor Moody, a.k.a. mad eye moody nearly five years ago using a dark ritual that no one had the details to. The only reason anyone even knew about it was through the message carved on the dead auror's back when the body had been found hanging from a lamppost in Diagon Alley. And since his return, Voldermort had been steadily gaining power, content to wait and patiently plan out his moves instead of rushing in as he had done in the past war. If the muggles were to know of the struggles between the wizarding ministry and Voldermort, they would draw parallel's to the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both sides had been building up their forces, training their fighters and seeking allies offshore.

"For five years I have been building up my power and observing the movement of my enemies. For five long years you have waited for Lord Voldermort to attack. But tonight, you wait no more." A silent gasp swept through the crowd of terrified reporters.

"Tonight, you will see my power, all of wizarding Britain will see. And Daniel," the serpentine face seemed to sneer down at the onlookers, "I will be starting with your brother and sisters."

Lily raised a hand to cover her mouth while James paled to a sickly gray. The crowd of reporters began whispering and scribbling down on their notes furiously. Daniel balled up his fists and trembled as he stared into the inhuman eyes that seemed to bore into his very soul. Voldermort sneered one last time before fading away, but the light itself did not vanish. Instead, it flattened and stretched out like screen until it was nearly 20 feet across and slowly an image began to come into focus. "For your viewing pleasure" hissed a faceless Voldermort.

The Potters instantly recognized where it was; it was their living room. James instantly reached for his wand and tried to apparate but to no avail. Seeing her husband fail, Lily tried with similar results. Panicking she turned to look at her husband who was looking equally stricken. Someone had put anti-appartation wards up across their home, and there was no way to contact and warn their children. They could only watch in horror as Harry came into view holding a tome in one hand while twirling his wand in the other.

**Potter Mansion 10:32 p.m.**

Harry had just finishing reading 3 stories to his baby sister who had struggled all the way into bed before finally settling down when handed her favorite stuffed animal 'snu-snu' a fox James had come home with one day. After half and hour of reading he finally managed to lull Lily to sleep, and after checking up on Rose to make sure she was comfortable and wasn't getting any worst, he had retreated to the living room with his new wand and Lily's copy of Hogwart's a History.

Harry had barely opened his mother's book before a shrieking wail echoed throughout the Potter Manor. The tome fell to the ground forgotten as Harry leapt to his feet upon hearing the intruder alarm. A quick snap of his wand and all the lights in the room instantly darkened and another flick of his wrist caused all the curtains to fall into place covering all the windows. A quick _colloportus_ was sent towards the front door followed by a _lumos. _Using the light from the tip of his wand as a guide, the raven haired boy rushed upstairs towards his sister's room, Rose being the closest. Already he could hear Lily crying in distress after hearing the alarm go off.

The door was nearly knocked off its hinges as Harry barged into his sick sister's room while his wand swept the area. "Rose are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," she covered her mouth as she coughed before continuing in a rasping voice. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but the intruder alarms went off." Grabbing a sweater he tossed it towards his bedridden sibling. "Put that on, we need to get out of here."

Seeing the serious look on her brother's face, the girl nodded and quickly put on the green sweater and slipped into her slippers.

"Here." Her hands instinctively snatched the wand that her brother had tossed in her direction.

"But Harry-"

"That's my spare. Come on, we need to go get Lily." Both Potters whipped around as they heard a crash from downstairs. Putting a finger to his lips to signal for silence, Harry stuck his head out and peered around the corner of the door. Seeing no one, he gestured for his sister and the two silently tiptoed towards Lily's room.

When they arrived, they found the 2 year old toddler hunched up under her blankets quivering. Her tearstained eyes peeked out from underneath the covers when she heard someone enter and she instantly opened her arms towards her brother indicating she wanted to be picked up.

Grabbing his distressed sister, he raised her up to his shoulder and gently patted her back as she sucked on her thumb and sniffled quietly.

"It's ok baby," whispered Harry as he rubbed a soothing circle across her back. Nodding at Rose, he handed over the near catatonic child to his sister. Grabbing a blanket, he wrapped it around the toddler before indicating for Rose to follow him.

Tiptoeing out, the Potters began to move towards the emergency passageway that was used for their planed escape route in case the mansion was ever under attack. But before they were even fully out the door, a piercing beam of blue light streaked out from the darkness.

" _Protego!" _an invisible wall of force flared into existence briefly as it deflected the blue light from striking it's intended target.

"Rose RUN!" bellowed Harry.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" aiming blindly into the darkness from where he estimated his adversary to be, Harry sent the beams of ruby stunning energy waist level as he had been taught.

A thud and a loud curse signified he had got someone, but also indicated there was someone else who was still conscious.

"Avada Kadavra!" A jet of green light pierced the darkness missing Harry's head by inches and discharging dangerously across the wall behind him, sending angry jade sparks dancing everywhere. Rose gave a terrified scream as she sprinted around the corner.

"Harry!"

"GO!"

A whisper of _enavate _left a sinking feeling in the boy's stomach as he sent a couple of cutting hexes down the corridor. He frowned as he caught sight of the shield flaring up against his hexes before ducking down at the return curses sent by his adversaries.

"_Lumos Maximus!" _Harry shut his eyes as the tip of his new wand lit up like the sun, and even behind his shut eyelids he was nearly blinded by the light. Loud swearing could be heard as the two men fumbled about in their blind state having been squinting directly towards their target when the powerful light spell meant as a vampire repellent was cast

Harry squinted through the spots dancing before his eyes, making out the blurred shape of the two stumbling men. Again he cast a quick succession of stunners at the blobs, but both men retained enough awareness to hear him cast the spell and threw up silent shield charms in time to deflect the spells.

Pointing his wand at the floor between them he took careful aim. "_REDUCTO!" _

Harry had always had a powerful reducto spell, but his new hellhound cored wand coupled with his high running emotions surprised even him. The spell was meant to break the floor between the men and send them tumbling down to the first floor while he ran. The floor broke alright, so well in fact, that even though he was more than 30 feet away he was caught in the break as well. All three fell down through the floor and landed in a heap in the middle of the living room with pieces of debris littering the once pristine guest room.

Harry stumbled drunkenly to his feet as the room swam before his eyes. One of the assailants must have dropped his wand on the way down, because not a moment after Harry had stood up, he was knocked back down hard enough to give him a concussion. The man was mistaken if he thought he would have an advantage in close quarters combat. Though he was only 11, Harry was a master of bare hand fighting. Both Daniel and Harry had been trained in multiple forms of martial combat at Lily's insistence. After seeing what the two were capable of, James had jokingly told Lily that if the twins ever got into a fight, they would lose a son.

While Daniel leaned more towards the defensive forms of fighting and relying on throws and tosses that allowed him to duke it out with adults, Harry went in the other direction. The raven haired male preferred the direct and brutal approach of simply bludgeoning his opponent with his knees and elbows while crippling them by shattering joints and tendons. His street fighting approach to fighting left no place too sacred to strike, and any weakness was exploitable.

Twisting in midair as they sailed into the wall, Harry managed to position himself so that the man holding him took the brunt of the blow against said wall. As the masked man grunted and loosened his grip, Harry sucked in his stomach allowing for more maneuverability. Twisting around, he violently slammed the back of his elbow into the side of the man's head stunning him. As the man's hands fell away, the boy rolled out of the crushing grip and onto his feet. Sending a vicious kick into the face of the man, he heard a satisfying crunch as he felt his foot connect with soft cartilage followed by a groan of pain from his victim.

Hearing the other attacker get up behind him, Harry quickly stomped on his opponents groin for a good measure before turning around and sending a barrage of bludgeoning hexes at the other wizard. The purple beams glanced harmlessly off the unspoken shield spell, and Harry was forced to dodge the returning hail of spell fire that punched fist size holes in the walls behind him dropping an ungodly amount of rubble onto the already downed man.

"You're dead you little bastard! DEAD!" A flash of green followed the death threat, and a number of crucio's trailed inches behind. Ducking and weaving between the deadly eldritch energy being hurled about, Harry barely had a chance to cast.

'I'm gonna be in trouble if this continues.'

"_Imperio!" _Seizing his chance, and hoping his occlumancy was as good as he thought, he dived forward and allowed the spell to hit him. Immediately the other man stopped casting and a warm calm serene feeling flowed through Harry's mind. His throbbing shoulder seemed to stop aching, and the pain in his wrist seemed distant as he felt something slam against his mental shields.

"_Stand still. It's alright; we're old family friends remember? Stand still_." The voice was overwhelmingly persuasive, but Harry ignored it focusing in on his inner mind as he had been taught to. Carefully keeping his face as blank as possible he stood up slowly.

The death eater sneered at him and allowed his wand to drop slightly. "We were ordered to kill you, but I think the dark lord will enjoy snuffing your life out personally. Now drop your wand."

Seizing his chance, Harry snapped up his wand quick as a striking adder. "_Scalpulus!"_

Originally, the Scapulus curse was invented for farming purposes. It was a spell that allowed wizards to reap wheat without having to use a scythe. A simple slash of the wand and a couple feet of grain would be felled as though an invisible scythe had been used. During the American Revolution however, the American farming wizards had taken to using the scything curse upon their enemies, and since then the spell had fallen out of agricultural use and more into combat purposes. Harry had happened upon the spell while sifting through the Potter library, and had discovered it was quiet powerful when used properly.

The man never stood a chance. The curse hit him right in the neck, sending his head flying off the shoulder. For a brief moment, the body stood still, and a fountain of blood squirted out of the neck artery as the heart continued to supply the now detached head with crimson life fluid. Almost in slow motion, the body crumpled to the ground, sending a spray of gore across the destroyed living room in erratic spurts, repainting the once milky white walls and ceiling an angry red.

Harry kneeled over and wretched violently at the sight of the decapitated body. He had just killed a man. Wiping his mouth with a trembling hand, the boy stood hunched over a pool of his bile mixed with the half digested spaghetti dinner Lily had whipped up earlier. Before he could recover, a jet of silver light shot out from the side sending the wand in his hand sailing through the air and clattering to the floor.

Whipping around, Harry dived towards his wand only to have the wind knocked out of him by another spell which sent him skidding into the kitchen. A silver haired man dressed in what appeared to be the hides of dead animals came into view as Harry stumbled to his feet. The man smelled horribly like decaying flesh, and when he grinned, oversized canines slipped out into a very vicious looking smile.

Harry stood and immediately sent a right hook towards the man's liver hoping to wind him before he could cast again, but his clenched fist was easily caught. Dropping down to one knee, the boy used his trapped hand as leverage to swing his left elbow out towards the side of the man's kneecaps, but the man dropped to one knee and Harry smacked into thigh instead of joint.

The large man sheathed his wand in one quick movement and used the now free hand to grab Harry's neck, hoisting the boy up and holding him in the air. As the air was chocked from his body, Harry struggled feebly in midair while staring down at the man. Amber wolf like eyes stared back and the man grinned, showing all of his teeth. "Not bad kid. Not bad at all. Not many 11 year olds can kill two fully trained wizards, even if they were idiots who underestimated you. Trash like that deserves to die. But you got guts kid, and I admire guts."

Lowering the boy slightly, he opened his free hand to expose claw like nails at the end of each finger. Using his unnatural looking nails as a weapon, the man slashed the left side of Harry's face, catching his left eye and dragging the wound almost down to his jaws.

The brother of the boy-who-lived gave a choked howl of pain as his left eye was blinded

and he struggled even harder against he man's grip.

Dropping the boy, the wild looking man sent a kick into Harry's side sneering cruelly as he heard rib bones give way. "The Dark Lord sent me to make an example of you and your sisters, but I serve no one but myself Harry. So tell you what, I'm a sporting man. I believe in fair chances."

Grabbing the barely conscious 11 year olds hand he dragged the boy over to the kitchen wall. Unsheathing his wand, the man muttered something unintelligible before tapping the wall. Where the tip of his wand touched, the normally hard material rippled like water and sent small delicate waves outwards. Dragging Harry to his feet, he plunged their hands through the soft malleable wall and withdrew his own hand after releasing the boy's. At once, the wall returned to a normal state, except for the fact that Harry's left arm was stuck in it up to the elbow.

Regaining some of his bearings, the trapped boy immediately began struggling against the unnatural hold of the wall, but to no avail. "I'm afraid you won't be getting out that way Harry." Again the man smiled down at the glaring boy, showing all of his pearly whites.

"I'm going to kill your sisters now." Seeing Harry's horrified look, he continued with great relish. "But see, I'm not an unfair man Harry, I'll give you a chance to save them." A quick flick of his wand and a nearby fallen saucer was summoned into his hand. Flicking his wand though a dizzying pattern and whispering an indistinguishable incantation, he transfigurated the cooking pan into a massive butcher knife. Dropping the massive blade onto the ground, they both watched the blade sink in 3 inches or so at the tip.

"Come. Come save your sisters if you dare, Harry Potter." Tossing his head back, the silver mane man laughed and marched out of the room.

Snatching up the massive blade, Harry began trying hacking away at the wall, but found that the portion of the plaster his hand was trapped in had become harder then steel. Smashing the blade futilely against the wall he let loose a growl of frustration before slamming the blade into the tile floor and panting in exertion.

A sharp piercing cry of terror that belonged to baby Lily sent a jolt of terror down Harry's spine. Snatching the blade up, the boy renewed his frenzied attack against the wall. Another scream, again from Lily sent a surge of fury through the 11 year olds body and he let loose a cry of rage at his helplessness. Tears sprang to his green eyes as he dropped the blade uselessly onto the ground. Slumping onto his knees, he pressed his forehead against the wall and felt his cheeks grow wet. Blinking back his tears of frustrations, Harry noticed blood on the handle of the butcher knife at his feet. Gazing down at the ruby liquid he stared at his free hand from which the wound bled. Picking up the blade again he could not tear his eyes away from the crimson fluid that had dripped down the edge of the blade. Catching sight of his own reflection in the blade, he noticed how frightened his image looked.

Using his hand while still gripping the handle of the butcher blade, Harry tore strips from his tattered shirt before stuffing the wade of broken cotton into his mouth. Biting down as tightly as possible, he raised the blade with a trembling hand and prepared himself mentally, though he knew it was futile.

'For my sisters!'

AN: Originally I had wanted to go a bit further then this, but I think this is a great place to end the first chapter. So Love it? Hate it? Send me your thoughts, though please try to keep the flaming to a minimal, I like my stories toasty but not burnt.


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